The café was crowded-a sea of murmurs, the sharp hiss of steam off the espresso machine. The air was thick with the smell of freshly ground coffee beans and baked pastries, but Emma barely registered it. Her mind was somewhere else-on the cryptic warnings she had received, the threats that seemed to close in on Arcadia from all sides, and Sofia Cross's looming presence. Tonight, though, Emma had a meeting that could change everything.
Lucy sat at a corner table, her face half-concealed by a menu. Emma found her at once: the familiar redhead's eyes scanning the room with nervousness, as if she too knew something dangerous was lurking nearby. When their eyes met, Lucy gave a tight smile, and Emma's stomach fluttered with the unspoken understanding that tonight's conversation would not be easy.
Emma weaved through the maze of tables; her heartbeat quickened, the buzz of the conversations suddenly distant. She slipped into the seat across from Lucy, her gaze flicking around the café, almost as if she half expected to be watched. There wasn't anyone notable, only people in their ordinary skin-the humdrum of evening caffeine seekers, people that seemed so unplugged from this cloaked world she was em-broaching.
"Thanks for meeting me," Emma said softly, dropping the bag beside her.
Lucy nodded abruptly, narrowing her eyes. "Of course. We need to talk. And it can't wait."
The waitress arrived, took their orders, and disappeared again. Already, Emma's mind was racing. She leaned in, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I've been going through everything-those financial reports, the anomalies we found. It doesn't add up. Someone is siphoning money out of Arcadia, and I think it's an inside job."
Lucy's lips pressed into a thin line. "I knew it," she muttered, looking over her shoulder as though checking for eavesdroppers. "I knew something was wrong when I was fired, but I couldn't prove it. I heard things, rumors. That's why I contacted you."
Emma tilted her head, confused. "What rumors?"
Lucy hesitated for a beat, then leaned forward, her voice dropping to a near-whisper. "There's an anonymous tip I got a few days ago. A source, someone inside Arcadia, says there's a mole. Someone on the inside who's been working with the hackers, helping them cover their tracks. And it's worse than we thought. The mole has access to critical company data. They know exactly how to disrupt Arcadia's operations, and they've been doing it for months."
Emma's breath caught in her throat. A mole? She had suspected there was someone pulling strings from behind the scenes, but to think it could be someone inside Arcadia-someone she might work with every day, someone she trusted-was unthinkable. "Who is it? Do you have any idea?"
Lucy shook her head. "No. The tip came with no name, no identifying details. Just a cryptic warning about a 'trusted insider' who's been feeding information to the hackers. I don't know who it is, but it's someone close to Adrian. Someone who knows his every move, his every weakness."
Emma's pulse spiked. The thought of betrayal-of someone she might have known all along-suddenly felt like a weight in her chest. Her thoughts spiraled back to Sofia, to the warning she had received earlier. Was it possible that Sofia knew something? Or was she simply playing the game like everyone else?
Are you sure this tip is legit?" Emma asked, her voice low but urgent. "I mean, how do we know this person isn't just trying to throw us off track?"
Lucy's eyes hardened. "I don't know. But I trust it. I've seen enough to know that something's not right at Arcadia. You can feel it, can't you? The tension, the way people are starting to act differently. No one's talking, but I can tell they know something we don't."
She couldn't deny that. She had noticed the change in the office, too-the way the executives kept to themselves a bit more, how people seemed to be walking on eggshells. And then there was Adrian. She could see the fissures in his usually composed facade, the toll the pressure was taking on him. If someone was targeting him-and by extension, Arcadia-then the stakes were far greater than she had previously thought.
"What's our next step?" Emma asked, but her mind was already going through a plan. It wasn't about her alone anymore. It was about how to stop whatever was coming before it destroyed everything.
Lucy looked around one last time before continuing. "We need to get closer to people who might know more. But we have to be careful, Emma. Trust no one-not even Adrian. Everyone is a suspect until proved otherwise."
A pang of doubt crept into Emma's chest as she wondered if Adrian could be suspected, at all. Could she truly trust him? The same Adrian she knew- standoffish, mysterious, yet protectively strange-seemed to be on her side, but was he playing at something much greater? She couldn't let herself get caught up and lose her judgment when something meant so much.
"I get it," Emma said, nodding slowly. "But we can't do this alone. We need more information. If there's a mole in Arcadia, we need to find them before they make their next move."
Lucy gave her a sharp, knowing look. "Exactly. But we also need to be careful. We don't know who's watching."
Emma frowned, confusion flickering in her eyes. "What do you mean?"
Lucy leaned back in her chair, her eyes scanning the café's entrance, as if peering at something-or someone. "The thing about this game is that it's not just about gathering information; it's about keeping your moves concealed. If someone is observing us, they will know our moves before we do. This is the reason why we have to keep things secret. Keep everything between us for now. No one else can know we're onto them."
Emma's skin prickled at the thought of someone watching them. She instinctively glanced around the café, her eyes scanning the patrons. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary—just a group of college students chatting loudly at a nearby table, a couple hunched over their laptops in the corner. But Lucy's warning gnawed at her.
"Are you sure we're not being followed?" Emma asked, feeling paranoid now. "I mean, if this mole is as connected as you say, what's to stop them from knowing we're looking into it?"
Lucy's lips curved into a grim smile. "That's the thing. You can never be sure. But we have to take risks. This is bigger than either of us, Emma. We're talking about the future of Arcadia-and who knows what else. If we don't act fast, it could all fall apart."
Emma took a deep breath, her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn't so sure if she was ready for what was going to happen, but one thing was clear: she couldn't back down now. Not when the answers were this close, and not when everything that mattered was on the line.
"We do it your way," Emma said, determination setting in her voice. "We move carefully. But we move fast. We find the mole, and we stop them before they bring this whole company down."
Lucy nodded, her expression softening with approval. "That's the spirit. But don't forget, Emma-trust no one."
As Emma leaned back, her mind racing with the implications of what Lucy had just said, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were both being watched. The shadows felt closer now, pressing in from every side. But there was no turning back. The game had started, and there was only one way out: to win.
Unbeknownst to either of them, someone was watching. A pair of eyes, hidden in the corner of the café, studying every word, every movement. The mole was closer than they realized—and the clock was ticking.